Zac Feltoon not only celebrates craft on his own, but also finds manufacturing partners who do also; the production of his Repose table serves as the perfect example. “I couldn’t do it alone,” he noted. Armed with the realization that each of his creations takes a partnership tobring it to life, he chose Wooda—a furniture maker in Wisconsin—to build this one-of-a-kind, American-made piece. “When I go to look for a manufacturer, I want to knowwhat their values are,” he explained. He seeks partners that not only honor their specifiedcrafts, but also recognize the people and tools that make them great. Feltoon wasdrawn to Wooda because of the company’s perfect blend of craftsmanship and razor-sharp CNC production capabilities. “I knew they would be able to pull this piece off andtranslate exactly what I was thinking.”Read on to learn more about the vision behind Feltoon’s Repose table.

+Evolution

THE ARTIST

Feltoon believes that a product’s design
should make its use intuitive. He achieves
that by examining a variety of scenarios
in which users will approach his pieces
during their everyday routines, and finding
the design elements that provide a unique
experience to draw them out of such ritual.

“I want a piece that people can ‘discover,’”
he explained. “I want that surprise.”

THE PROCESS

After working through countless iterations of the
design of Repose—consisting of tiny, incremental
changes of what the proportion of the base to
the surface of the table would ultimately be—
Feltoon finally settled on the opened ring shape
attached to two legs that tapered as they ascend,
as opposed to the typical thinning as the leg
descends. He wanted the base to convey a feeling
that Repose is solid and “planted.”

THE BASE

The ring shape creates a more sturdy contact with
the ground, which attractively counteracts the
more slimming and minimal use of just two legs.

But the real superstar is the cutout that allows it to
fit around the leg of a bench, lounge, or sofa that
the user might be sitting on. It accommodates the
natural act of pulling the table up alongside you
while you work, while also providing that pleasant
surprise of convenience.